Some would say that the television academy will nominate both the good and the popular but that it tends to only give the coveted award to the good and ignore the popular. Whether true or not, the nominations for the 50th Annual Emmy Awards, the award for outstanding television, have been announced. Many are repeat nominees, but there are some surprises.
The most nominated program was HBO1s brilliant mini-series FROM HERE TO THE MOON. The series, which was produced by actor Tom Hanks and chronicled the U.S. effort to put a man on the moon, landed 17 nominations.
Close behind FROM HERE TO THE MOON were ER (NBC) and THE X-FILES (FOX) with 16 nominations and the NBC mini-series MERLIN with 15.
The late Phil Hartman received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the NBC comedy series NEWSRADIO. Hartman received an Emmy in 1989 as a writer for Saturday Night Live but this would be his first Emmy for his acting.
Two other actors also received posthumous nominations: Lloyd Bridges for Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his guest role on NBC1s SEINFELD and J.T. Walsh for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the TNT movie HOPE.
In an irony that could only happen in Hollywood, the 70th Annual Academy Awards, the biggest awards show for the motion picture industry, received eight nominations in various categories for being one of the best television specials.
First-year sensation ALLY McBEAL (FOX) received 10 Emmy nominations, including Best Comedy series. It is the first hour long series to be nominated for an Emmy since MOONLIGHTING in 1985.
Producers submit their programs under whichever category they desire. It is likely that creator/producer/director David E. Kelly deliberately submitted McBEAL in the comedy category to keep it from competing with his other series THE PRACTICE (ABC) which was nominated for Best Drama Series.
Other notable nominees included FRASIER (NBC) with 11. THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW (HBO) and NYPD BLUE (ABC) each received 10 nominations. Tying for eight nominations a piece were THE 70th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ACADEMY AWARDS (ABC), DON KING: ONLY IN AMERICA (HBO) and 3rd ROCK FROM THE SUN (NBC). There are literally dozens of nominations. For a complete listing see the link in the column to the right. Major Emmy nominations included:
